Chemical Burns
by monettes
Summary: Masami is a mess of emotions, a little goofy, overly sarcastic and a vampire. She shared a past with the Mukamis she would rather forget than remember. Fateful meetings get her and her companion in the strangest conversations, awkward situations and flashbacks to their pasts.
1. Prologue: Bear

Hey! This is the first time I'm uploading one of my fics! Hope you'll enjoy. (English is not my native language, so I'm very very sorry for all the mistakes ;_;)

The first chapters are set in the past, I'll get to the present later on. The Sakamaki kiddo's will also be featured in this story!

The genre is humor/romance/friendship/drama/...? (lol why even mention that) But do expect some humor since my OC is a bit... Well, you'll see haha/

**I do not own Diabolik Lovers, only my OC.**

* * *

**Prologue: part 1**

→ Bear

* * *

The flashes of light, followed by the deep and ear-piercing sound of the thunder, made the children in the sleeping quarters flinch in fear. Well, especially the younger and the weaker ones. Some of the young ones cried and screamed. Screaming for help, although they knew that no one was willing to aid them.

No one had any sympathy for orphans. In these days of war the mentality "everyone must save their own skin" was what kept the people alive. Showing sympathy was a waste of time and effort. That's why you could say that being brought to an orphanage –to be more specific, this orphanage –was a sign of God, who wanted to give you a chance in life, a roof above your head, clothes and food. But that is a naïf way of thinking. No… it was just stupid and ignorant. The orphanage was a first class hellhole.

Even its past was questionable. The building itself used to be a mansion of a seemingly noble and honest man, they said. But the man, who never got over the dead of his wife, was inhuman –an understatement as we can say. He murdered women, children and even infants as an attempt to ease the pain. Later on, he started sacrificing them, trying to convince God to bring back his wife. He took great care of her dead and rotting body, making sure that she would be with him forever. Of course, such happenings never stay in the shadows and he knew that sooner or later the authorities would go after him. So then he decided to lock himself in an iron coffin with the body of his wife, just beside the river. He made sure that once he got locked up, the weight would make the coffin sink in the river, being completely purified of all the evil, so that he could join his wife in heaven. Oh, well… that's how the story goes.

Later on they decided to use the house –once all the bodies were removed –as an orphanage. What a _beautiful_ thought. They say that the souls of the victims still wander around the mansion, trying to find their way out. Trying to find a path that led to a joyous and happy life. A bit like the orphans now. But that's not going to happen any time soon.

Most likely never.

Masami found the story rather intriguing. It was gruesome and not your typical happy ending story, but she found it interesting nonetheless. A man that killed so many because he couldn't get over ones death? _Oh, how cheesy._ Masami wondered whether everyone was doomed to go mad once they've fallen in love. Was love really that destructive?

Love was of course unknown territory for a ten-year-old girl who still thought that it was a waste of time and disgusting. Why would people take it so seriously anyway? She just couldn't understand.

Masami rolled over and brought her knees up to her chin. It was quite chilly and the blankets didn't help at all. Moreover, she was the one who had to sleep next to the window, a.k.a. the coldest spot in the room. Staring at the dull, grey ceiling, she brought her arms over her legs to keep herself warm.

If they could only shut up, thought Masami. The wailing of the other kids kept her awake and she prayed that the storm would soon settle down.

_This damn weather._

To be honest, Masami loved rain, but a storm was something different. A storm meant no sleep and if you were unlucky enough to have to work in the garden the next morning , then you would have to deal with the mud and the dirt. And washing your clothes after that was also one hell of a job. Luckily, she had to help in the kitchen.

Masami glanced at the little girl who was lying beside her, who seemingly wasn't bothered by all the noise, as she was quietly snoring.

Masami yawned. She really had to get herself some sleep. Being ready and awake for a fun, new day at the orphanage was a priority of course.

* * *

'Masami, you go peel the potatoes,' said Anda-san.

It was seven in the morning and work started just after a skimpy breakfast. And today Masami had to help Anda-san in the kitchen. Anda-san was an old lady with a face full wrinkles and a sour smile that missed some teeth. She wore her grey hair in a tight bun. Anda-san was a cruel women, she truly was. But she was pretty nice towards Masami. Well, 'nice' is a big word. Without any exception, Masami got thrown in the isolation cell countless times when she displayed rebellious behavior. Anyhow, Anda-san got used to Masami.

Anda-san had told her that she was born in the orphanage. Her birth had caused the dead of her own mother, who had sought for shelter in the orphanage. It was Anda-san who named her and took care of her as an infant. Masami always wondered whether or not Anda-san got attached to her. She never acted motherly towards her, but showed signs of indirect kindness. For example, the reason why Masami wasn't part of the crew of kids that provided entertainment for wealthy nobles, was because of Anda-san. She claimed that she still needed Masami to do chores, because she was the only one who could do them in a 'correct' way. But everything has its price. Saying that Masami had it better than the rest? No, Masami had to work longer and harder than all the other kids. But Masami couldn't complain.

She got used to it.

Masami nodded and walked towards a chair in the corner of the kitchen, took the knife of the chair and started peeling the immense pile of potatoes.

Two hours had passed and she was finally done. Her hands were red and raw and her body felt stiff of sitting in the same position for so long.

"Anda-san, I'm done," the girl said while wiping her hands on her dress.

"You go check on the other kids in the right wing now, I heard there was a fight." The women was sitting in her chair by the window, as always. Anda-san handed her something before Masami even got the chance to reply.

"They fell on the ground. I don't want them, I don't want anything dirty in my kitchen," the old woman shrugged and took a small sip of her tea. "You can leave, dirty child."

Masami stared at the small cubes in her hand. Not wanting to be scolded by Anda-san, Masami quickly rushed out of the kitchen. Masami put the cubes in her pocket and made her way to the right wing. The fight was probably somewhere in the garden, so she quickly made her way outside.

* * *

"Your gang? How pathetic! They're just a bunch of delusional idiots! Especially that leader… Locks or whatever his name was." Laughter erupted and more insults were thrown at the victim or victims.

_Oh, no. Not him again._

Masami ran as fast as her legs could carry her, almost slipping over the wet grass. A crowd had gathered around the troublemakers and were shouting and waving with their fists.

"Don't you talk like that about Lucks, you bastard!" announced a second voice that trembled with anger.

And so the real fight began. Masami couldn't see anything, because of the crowd. Of course they wouldn't pay any attention to her.

"Idiot!" A loud smack was soon followed by the cheering of the audience.

"Go back to the trash where you belong!" The second voice let out a groan of pain, followed by a loud gasp after –probably –a hit in the stomach.

"Oi, you guys need to stop."

The girl had made her way through the crowd and was currently standing in between the fighting boys. She analyzed the situation. A kid with a ponytail against a group of fourteen-year-olds. And he had defeated two of them.

Impressive.

The two defeated ones were covered in bruises and one had a bleeding nose. Masami swore that this kid had a lot of experience in fighting, he couldn't be able to defeat a bunch of kids twice his size just like that?

"Masami, go mind your own business," said a raven-haired boy who was two heads taller than her.

She looked at the other boy who got up with a slightly confused look on his face.

"A bunch of fourteen-year-olds fighting a ten-year-old… that's a bit low, don't you think? Even for you, Shinji…" Masami replied seriously and slightly annoyed. She had known the boy for a long time, but they never got along very well. Masami always tried to avoid Shinji, and it would always work.

Until now.

"I'm eleven!" the boy on the ground shouted.

"No one cares!" Masami turned back to the raven-haired boy. "Don't you have work to do?" she said, trying not to glare, but oh boy, she failed to do that.

"Ha, trying to command us again, Masami?" The boy took a step forward and gave her a rotten smile.

"I just got my orders." Masami wasn't backing down and didn't show any sign of fear or suppression. But she felt her voice trembling, showing signs of hesitation.

"Ha?! Masami, you want to get into a fight or what?" The boy grinned and grabbed her by her collar. "Little girls shouldn't interrupt our business." His gang members started laughing.

Masami grabbed his wrist and started to struggle her way out of his grasp, but he was too strong. No way she could beat him. The only thing she could do was mentally preparing herself to get beaten up.

"What's going on here?"

A caretaker had showed up, and not just a caretaker… it was Rie-san. And she was in a bad mood.

_Crap._

The other kids rushed back to work. Shinji, who still held Masami by her collar, quickly dropped her on the ground before rushing away.

"Ah, you two were the ones making the noise instead of doing your job, huh?" said the tall woman, pointing at the ponytail kid and her.

"No, I had to…" began Masami, but Rie-san immediately interrupted her.

"Don't speak to me like that," the woman scoffed.

_Well, you were the one asking the damn question._

"But she didn't do anything!" said the other boy with his fists clenched out of anger.

"LIES!" The woman grabbed the boy and her by their arm and walked away with them.

The boy tried to struggle, but it was useless. Masami already knew where she was taking them.

They were taken to the cellar of the right wing and both thrown in the punishment cell.

"Hey! Let us out, you hag!" screamed the boy as the woman locked the door.

"Hey, shut it! Do you want to stay here for a week or what?!" Masami pulled him from the door.

"Tch…"

"What a pain," mumbled Masami as she sat down. The cellar was dirty and sleeping on the cold, hard ground was everything except pleasant.

Ten minutes passed.

"Hey," the boy began.

"What?"

"Why did you help me?"

"Eh… I didn't help you. I was just asked to stop a fight," she shrugged. Masami then stood up and sat beside the boy.

"Eh?!"

"So, are you new here? I've never seen you here," said Masami casually while stretching her arms.

"I've been here for a few weeks now. It sucks." The boy pouted and threw a rock across the cell.

"Ah well, couldn't get any worse," Masami said in a pretentious wise tone.

The boy let out a chuckle. Then another sound. It was his stomach.

"Argh." He put a hand on his stomach and turned his head away out of shame. One of the advantages of the cell was not getting any food until the next morning. Fantastic, right?

"Oh, I've got something." Masami remembered that she still had some sugar, so she quickly took them out of her pocket and spread them on her lap and started counting them. Seven cubes.

The boy curiously looked up and stared at the small, snow white cubes.

"What's that?"

"Sugar. You can have some if you want." She handed him three cubes.

"Heh? You're sharing it with me?" He looked puzzled.

"Eh, yeah. But you can always give them back if you don't want them~" she popped one of the cubes in his hand in her own mouth.

"AH?!"

"Are you going to eat one or not?" Masami lifted her brow and handed him another cube to compensate for the one she stole from him.

He nodded and put one in his mouth.

"Wow! It's delicious!" he shrieked happily before putting another one in his mouth.

"Hah, never had any sugar? Mmm, that's not unusual though…" Masami mumbled and handed him another one when she saw that he ate all the other ones he had. It was fascinating how quickly his mood had changed by handing him something as simple as a sugar cube. He was eating it as if it was happiness in the form of a cube. He was in a completely different world.

Masami ate another cube and handed what was left to the boy.

"Are you sure you want to give them to me?" the boy asked as she was wiping of her dress.

"Yeah, it's fine. You're enjoying them way more than I am anyway, so yeah."

"I'm Bear. What your name?" the boy gave her a bright smile.

What a strange name…

"I'm Masami, nice to meet ya," she beamed.

* * *

***EDIT* SO this is actually a really old piece, and I feel like I have to change it, just because it's so different from all my other chapters. (in other words: I think this first chapter is really really shitty lmfao, but I promise that the rest is better haha...ha)**

**• RATE AND REVIEW PLEASE **

**I NEED IT **

**•** Sorry if the story's a bit too slow.

**•** Diabolik Lovers is extremely vague when it comes to dates and setting, so after doing some research and reading, I guessed that the Mukami kids are from the same time as Shu and Reiji (England (?), early 17th/18th century), judging by their clothes when they were kids. I guess the triplets were born in the late 17th/18th century. I'm guessing England since it kinda matches their clothes and the architecture of that time. They most likely moved to Japan because Karl told them too, but just like I said I'm PRETTY sure that they were not raised in Japan.

Like Subaru says in his ecstasy epilogue:

_"Suddenly, I was ordered to leave my father's manor. I was sent off to a far foreign country to attend school."_

Lol the question why the 100 year old Sakamaki boys have to attend school is still unanswered (Ketchup Heinz is probably just a giant troll who made them go)

Anyway, I try to stay as correct as possible by using elements of the game. I haven't played one of the Mukami's YET (only read summaries on their routes) so I hope that I'm not going too OOC here ( ≧Д≦)

I'll update sooooooon.


	2. Prologue: Friends

So here's chapter two! Thanks for the reviews, I REALLY appreciate it!

To the guest: Yes, Rejet doesn't really bother giving us DECENT background info or explanations I just–

/Some people assume that Ketchup Heinz changed their names to Japanese ones, but yeaaaaaaah lol it's still vague as shit

* * *

**Prologue: part 2**

→ Friends

* * *

Masami and Bear sat in the cell talking for a while, mainly about stupid things like what their favorite color was and what kind of things they hated. He told her about his gang and his past and explained that the fight he had with the group of kids was because they insulted his old gang. He talked about his old gang with a voice full of respect and a tiny hint of sadness. Masami was actually surprised how fast the boy opened up to her. People in general didn't like her. They found her annoying, but that was fine. She didn't need anyone anyway. But this boy was something different. And it wasn't something she particularly disliked.

"My past is pretty boring. I was born here, so yeah… I haven't done or seen much," Masami said with a groan.

"Oh."

"Pretty sad, huh? But I'm not planning on staying in this shithole. I want to see the world." Masami said. She was a carefree person, but this was something she was serious about. Dying in this place was her worst nightmare.

"That makes two of us!" The boy gave her a bright smile. They continued to talk and later on, they started to throw rocks at the wall. They ended up throwing rocks at each other because of an argument about who was cheating in the previous game.

"You suck at this, ponytail," laughed Masami who was sitting at the other side of the cell. She threw a pebble-stone at his head, thereafter being hit by one herself.

The boy had a typical up-to-no-good smile on his face. "Oi, but you're cheating, you know!"

Masami's laugh stopped as she heard a sound outside of the cell.

"Oi!" Bear walked to her and waved his hand in front of her face.

"Shhh, I hear footsteps." Masami pressed her ear against the wall and tried to listen carefully.

Bear's eyes widened and he gave her a fierce nod.

"Probably a new cellmate…" whispered the boy.

"Yeah… let's pretend we're sleeping," whispered Masami back with a grin.

They both laid down and he started to snore to make his act more believable.

Masami kicked him in back. "Not so loud, ponytail."

"You're way too aggressive for a girl!" he whispered angrily.

The door of the cell then opened, a small silhouette was pushed inside the room before the door was closed again.

"Masami can we stop pretending now?"

"All clear!" Masami said and let out a chuckle. She glanced at the new visitor. He had moved himself to the other side of the room, sitting in the tiny bit of sunlight that shone through the small window near the ceiling. His arms were wrapped around his knees and his face buried in his arms.

"Hey, boy! Who are you!" said Bear loudly as he looked at the boy in the corner.

"Don't scream in my ear, you idiot!" yelled Masami to Bear and hit his arm.

He smacked her right back. "Stop hitting me!"

"Stop yelling! You're scaring the boy!"

"Ha?! You're the scary one here, not me." Bear roughly shook her shoulders.

"Tch."

Masami released herself from Bear's grip, walked up to the boy and sat in front of him. He looked scared and a bit confused.

"Hey, I know you. You're one of _those_ kids. I don't remember your name though," said Masami in a friendly tone. She sometimes had to help the kids who had to provide entertainment to those rich bastards and she was pretty sure that he was one of them, judging by his pretty face. He had a snow white skin, glittering blue eyes and golden hair, just like a doll.

"I'm Masami and this idiot here is… Eh… I forgot his name, but you can call him ponytail or annoying loud guy."

"DON'T call me that!" yelled Bear as he stomped towards them. "My name is BEAR!"

"Jeez, you're annoying," mumbled Masami as she tried to hide her amused smile. Masami looked back at the new boy and saw a tiny smile on his face.

"So what's your name?" asked Masami. "We don't bite."

"I'm Kou."

"Nice to meet you! Why are you here?" asked Masami. She was being quite sociable today.

"Did you get beaten up or something?" asked Bear.

_No tact. No tact at all._

Kou's handsome face was bruised just like his legs and arms. There were also blue lines on his neck and barely healed cuts in his legs. His body was literally buried with wounds and bruises. It was known what the aristocrats did to the children they 'rented', but it was shocking nevertheless. As Masami was about to hit Bear for being tactless, Kou just sighed and looked up at the window.

"I provide entertainment for the rich. I don't mind, though, since I get nice clothes and decent food."

"What are you babbling about? You like being used like that?" Bear said with a tone full of disbelieve.

"Well…" began Kou, but Masami interrupted him.

"We should stop talking about this." Masami sighed.

"Do you also entertain or…" said Kou timidly.

Masami was taken aback by this question. "No, why do you think that?"

"Well… you're... eh…kind of..." the boy said as he looked away. "... Pretty." He had basically mumbled the last part, but Masami had heard it.

_Oh_. _She didn't expect that._

"Thanks."

"She isn't pretty, she's annoying," said Bear and flung her long, white hair in her face.

"You're the one to talk," grinned Masami.

The kids talked for the next few hours and even played a few games. Masami couldn't remember the last time she actually had fun in the orphanage. It was mostly work, being bashed, hit and ignored and more work. But now… She felt good. No, she felt _great_. Never could she have thought about making friends. She always told herself that friends were only useless nuances, all because of her experiences from the past. But now? She had made two friends! Two! Even though she didn't want to admit it, she was truly happy that she was thrown in the cell with Kou and ponytail.

A month had passed and Masami had always spent lunch with Bear. They fought, laughed and enjoyed each other's company in general –even though they would never admit something like that. They saw Kou on occasions in the first weeks after their first meeting, but due to his 'job' they didn't have the chance to talk to him a lot. He joined them for lunches after a while and became part of their 'crew', as Masami called it, much to Bear's dislike. He thought it was a lame name and yes, they had had an argument about that too.

On this particular day, the three kids were sitting outside for lunch. The weather was nice; it wasn't very warm or cold, there was a light breeze of wind and the sun peeked through the clouds.

Masami had arrived last, since she always had to work longer than everyone else. They were currently lying down in the grass, eating their skimpy meal. Well, that didn't count for Kou, who's meals were a lot better than Bear's or Masami's. But neither complained about that. Bear and Masami were smart enough to not comment on that. Masami wasn't very keen of Kou at the beginning. To be honest, she still saw Kou as a strange guy, but he was easy to talk to. She gradually came to like him.

"Kou?" Masami asked.

"Hmm?"

"Your right eye... can you see with it?" she asked carefully.

"Ah..." Kou sat up and scratched his cheek, while Yuma turned to his side, leaning his chin on his arm.

"No, it's dead." Not making eye-contact, he laid down again and looked up at the sky.

"Aah... That explains a lot. Sorry, I was curious," said Masami while plucking grass out of the ground.

"Don't worry about it," Kou whistled.

"Masami stop covering me in grass." Yuma groaned as he threw some leaves at her.

"Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts," she laughed before jumping up.

"What's wrong?" asked Yuma lazily as he sat up. He and Kou were both taken aback by her sudden action.

"Shit, I'm late, I'm late!" Masami shrieked as she ran away and left the boys in complete confusion.

* * *

It was evening and Masami's muscles felt sore. Her finger brushed over the dirty bandage around her arm. She better hadn't touched it, as an intense amount of pain shot through her arm. Thinking about the fact that she would have to work with a sore body and a wounded arm, made her nauseous. And there was no way that she could get treatment for her wound, even if she begged for it. She hoped that it wouldn't get infected. Resting her head against the wall, Masami let out a growl of pain in her bed. She closed her eyes and bit on the insides of her cheeks, just to distract herself from the pain in her arm. Anda-san had hit and stabbed her for being too late and had even said that it was a reasonable punishment. She had said that Masami had to be thankful.

_Thankful for what, though? __Living like some kind of animal, a working beast? Masami wasn't more than trash, no, she was the lowest form of a living being. Not good for anything. A nuance. The world would be perfectly fine if she died. No one would care or mourn her death. Life would just go on as usual. Her birth had __even__ taken the life of her own mother. Why? __Why did she get to live and why had her mother died? Did she die for her? Or did Masami kill her to be able to live? _

"Hmmp... I'm drowning in my self-pity," Masami whispered to herself.

Daring herself to look at the wound, she saw a red spot growing on the bandage.

_It's no good._

"You can't sleep either, can you?" whispered a voice.

Masami turned her head, seeing a boy in the bed next to hers. _Wait, where was the girl who slept in that bed? Oh, well... she must have died. _

Masami was so consumed in her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed her new neighbor.

"Mmmn." Masami couldn't bring out more than an animal-like sound as an answer to the boys question.

"You look pretty beat up."

"I could say the same about you," said Masami with lack of any kind emotion. She was too tired to be angry and she didn't feel like picking a fight with her new neighbor.

The boy then turned around, as he noticed that she didn't want to talk.

* * *

Masami hadn't seen Kou and Bear for a week, since she had to work from sunrise to sunset. Work went slower due to her injuries and this only caused more and more punishments for being 'lazy'. Every night she went half-dead to bed, 'enjoying' the little rest she got. She could barely sleep, as her arm ached at the slightest touch. Even though she tried to renew the bandage as much as she could, the pain didn't go away. Beside that, she still had to take care of her other injuries. There was only so much her ten-year-old body could handle. She wondered how long she could go one this way.

The only thing that made her nights a bit more pleasant was her new neighbor. She occasionally talked to him at night, because he also couldn't sleep. Masami would wake him every time he had a nightmare, at first just because he was being noisy, but it became a habit in no time. Talking to him was pleasant; he was smart and fascinating in a certain degree. He was very different compared to the other kids in the orphanage. She wondered why, but didn't bother asking.

"Hey, Ruki, wake up." Masami carefully shook the boys shoulder.

The boy shot up, breathing heavily. He grabbed his shirt and laid back down, resting his head on the flat pillow.

"That dream again?"

"Yeah..." Ruki said, a bit out of breath.

"Jeez..." whispered Masami.

"Would you mind singing again?" he then asked while looking at her with those sad gray eyes.

"Fine."

It wasn't really a song she was singing, since Masami didn't know any songs. It was a simple melody she invented, nothing special in any way. But it calmed the boy down for some strange reason. He asked her to sing ever since he had heard her singing to herself a few days ago. Masami didn't mind, though. Honestly, she felt quite flattered and privileged. She wasn't even sure _why._

Masami stopped and glanced at the boy. His eyes were closed and he was breathing slowly.

I have to fall asleep myself now, thought Masami as she yawned.

* * *

The floor in the hallway was finally clean. Masami had scrubbed for an hour now and she honestly couldn't feel her arms anymore. Using her right arm was too painful, so she had done everything with her left one.

"I just have to get this bucket back and –" said Masami to herself, before she got cut of.

"Ah... So many bruises..."

"What?!" Masami had almost dropped the bucket. There was a boy behind her _staring_ at her. To be more specific; he was staring at her injuries. She blinked a few times as she looked at him. The boy had a scar on his nose and messy dark hair. She might have seen him before, but she wasn't very sure about that.

_Anyway, w__ere the hell did he come from?_

"I wonder if it hurts... How did she get all those wounds..." spoke the boy in a timid voice.

"I don't have time for this," sighed Masami as she walked away with the bucket, not noticing the boy was following her.

"Stop following me!" yelled Masami as she noticed that the creepy boy started to walk faster.

"But... I want them too... Where did you get them..."

"What?! What the heck are you talking about?!" Masami tried to walk as fast as she could, but the heavy bucket put a limit on her speed.

"Azusa, stop bothering her."

Masami laid eyes on the boy in front of her. Pitch black hair along with sad gray eyes.

_Ruki? D__oes__ he know this freaky kid?_

Taking a closer look, she noticed two other figures behind the boy. And she recognized them.

"Oi, Masami where have you been?" said the familiar loud voice of Bear.

"She has been working, obviously," said Kou. "We've been looking for you, you know."

"Eh... why?" Masami put down her bucket and stared at Kou as she was utterly confused.

"We're planning on escaping," said the raven-haired boy.

"What?!" Masami couldn't believe her ears. Were they joking? They couldn't be serious about this, right?

_Right?_

"We're serious," said Ruki calmly.

"Eh...How – " began Masami.

"We'll talk about it somewhere else... If you want to be part of it, of course." Ruki emphasized the last part.

"Whatever it is, I'm in."

* * *

/2501 words whoohoo

Sorry if it looks a bit rushed, but I really wanted to update~

**• RATE AND REVIEW**

**• Follows/favorites are also appreciated ^^**

**• OTHER  
**

- What do you think of Masami so far?

- Next chapter is also set in the past, maybe a part of it in the present. Would you like the whole chapter to be set in the past, or not?

- Azusa's behavior is actually CANON, he followed Ruki around when he saw that Ruki got beat up. :') /azusa plEASE


	3. Prologue: Ayano

Hey, guys! Sorry for the LATE update, ugh life kept me busy (no excuses lol). I made the chapter longer than usual *cough cough 4869 words*

Guys... you know that feel when you just finished a chapter and then realize your OC is too OOC... well one of the reasons this chap is so late is due to the fact that I had to rewrite the whole thing /might have shed some tears

Anyway, hope you enjoy and...forgive me for the mistakes!

* * *

**Prologue: part 3**

→ Ayano

* * *

"We're going to escape."

"But... is it... a good thing..."

"There's no reason for us the be here anyway, whether it's good or bad."

"But we'll need to distract the guards right? How are you planning to do that?"

"I'll cause a commotion with Yuma and Kou. A fire would be ideal."

"Hmm..."

"Oi, but when is the execution?"

"Next Monday. And don't bring any luggage, okay? It will only slow us down."

"Yes!"

"Do you think we have a chance? Won't we die escaping?"

"It doesn't matter. We'll crawl out of this hell. By all means necessary."

* * *

It was around seven o'clock when Masami was send to one of the officials. She couldn't help but being nervous, asking herself whether she'd done something wrong. Or worse, did they want to question her about _the plan_? Ruki had explained it a few days ago and the due date was only a week away. The plan didn't leak out, did it? They would be in serious trouble if the officials knew. The amount of risks the plan contained was immense. Masami didn't even want to think about the punishments.

Masami was led to one of the offices in the left wing of the building. The women in front of her did not speak to her, nor look at her. This only added to Masami's nervousness.

"Ah you're finally here!" said a tall man, when Masami entered the room. He sat behind a large, wooden desk, pointing at one of the fancy chairs across him. The women behind Masami gave her a light push before leaving the room.

"Come, sit down. Don't be afraid." The man gave her a sickening sweet smile that accentuated the wrinkles on his face. Once again, he gestured at one of the seats. Not wanting to waste any time, Masami quickly sat down with a forced smile, trying not to seem nervous or twitchy.

"I'm sure you're wondering why your here," the man began with his _oh so_ radiant smile. "Since I'm a very busy person, I can't afford to waste any time, so I'll get right to the point, if you don't mind?"

"Of course, sir." Masami couldn't help but feel suspicious. Why was this man acting so cheery? Masami didn't like this _at all_.

"First of all, I have some sad news for you."

Hearing this, Masami swallowed her saliva. She felt nauseous. What did he mean with 'sad'? What kind of 'sad' was it?

_Stay calm, stay CALM JUST STAY CALM._

"Anda-san has passed away. It's a great loss to both the children and the staff. She was such a wonderful woman..." the official said with a sad tone, obviously faked.

Masami gasped unconsciously. She did not expect _that_. Honestly, that woman was old as balls, but dying? Masami didn't even think Anda-san was capable of dying. That woman was made of steel, children's tears and evil. And how was she supposed to feel about this? Masami didn't know if she had to be sad or relieved. She mostly felt disbelieve and was terribly confused, but being sad? Or happy? Which one was more appropriate? Anda-san did help her in her own way, but that didn't make up for all the abuse. This was one hell of a strange situation.

Masami just nodded.

The man sighed deeply. "I know that this could be hard on you, since she practically raised you. But don't let the news bring you down, understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Now, I also have some good news for you." A disgustingly sweet smile covered his face as he spoke the word 'good'.

_Oh no. _

"We're going to move you to a different department."

_No._

"You'll be joining the entertainment group. Consider yourself lucky!" He gave her a big, fat wink and continued. "Hmmm... before that, I heard you had some trouble with your arm, so we'll have to patch that up first, as we don't want to present any damaged goods. Go to the medical room. After that, I'll have someone show you your new sleeping quarter."

'We don't want to present any damaged goods.' Those words kept echoing in Masami's head. From a working animal to a toy, what a transition.

"Aren't you happy?" The official raised his brow.

"Yes, I am. Thank you, sir," said Masami, trying not to swallow her words.

"Good, good! That's what I like to hear!" The official smacked his hands together before pointing at the door. "That's it, you're dismissed."

Masami stood up, walked to the door and bowed before leaving. She tried to go over what happened. She couldn't say that she was surprised, but still...

"Okay, I have to calm down. I'm going to be fine. Everything will be fine," said Masami to herself as she softly slapped her cheeks.

_Get it together, Masami. Now is not the time to stress. I have to stay calm._

* * *

Masami sat on the small bed in the medical room. The nurse – to be honest, Masami didn't even know they had a nurse here – had disinfected and patched up all her wounds, including the one on her arm. It had been painful and she felt sleepy, because of the medicine she had taken, but that all aside, she did feel a bit better. Physically, that is. Her current situation was a mess and she didn't know what to do. That old hag had the worst timing, dying right before their escape.

_Thanks, Anda-san. __Great job. You couldn't have waited a bit longer before taking __the__ trip to the darkest __part__s__ of hell? _

Masami inhaled deep and exhaled slowly. All those worries should be cast aside. She couldn't do anything about her current situation and knowing they would escape next week, it would be better to just accept it and try to cope with it. She did not want to get in the way of the plan.

"Masami?!" sounded a familiar voice. Masami jumped up, causing her to almost fall of the bed.

"Kou, don't scare me like that!" Masami yelled after seeing the face of the intruder.

"Why are you here?" asked Kou, completely ignoring her ranting.

"Well –"began Masami, a bit taken aback by the sudden question.

_A simple 'hey' would have been better, jeez._

"Are you the new one? Are you the one I was supposed to pick up?" Kou questioned.

"I guess so? I was placed in your department today." Masami rubbed the back of her head and sighed.

"You do know what they do to the girls there, right?" Kou said, turning his face to the side, as if he was trying to hide the expression on his face.

"Yeah, I heard enough about that."

Kou kicked with his leg against the chair next to him, before slowly walked towards the opening of the door. Then he proceeded to just stand there, staring down the hallway, his back facing Masami. An unpleasant silence followed, Masami herself was not sure how to react. She had never seen Kou in such a state and she didn't know him well enough to know if he was the kind of person you had to leave alone or approach when angered. To be honest, Masami didn't even know whether he was angry or just confused. Not that it mattered, since he finally choose to break the silence.

"Come," he said in a calm voice, even though Masami could sense a hint of anger.

As they made their way, Masami couldn't help but glance at Kou every few minutes. He looked more worn out than ever before and the dark circles around his eyes contrasted with the beautiful, bright blue color of his iris. Now that Masami took a good look at him, she saw that his bangs were covering his other eye, not allowing her to see a glimpse of the blind eye. She was curious why, because Kou didn't hide his eye before, so why now? A bit of bandage peeked through the blond locks. Masami wondered if his eye got hurt and how.

Kou let out a frustrated sigh. "You've been staring for a while now, is there something wrong?"

_Damn you, curiosity._

"What's up with your eye? You didn't hide it before... And is that a band aid? " said Masami. She was the kind of person to go straight to the point, it could be a good or a bad trait. Though most people did not like her straightforwardness. Either way, Masami didn't care. Kou didn't need to answer her question, she wouldn't want to push him to do so. "Did _they_ do this to you?"

"Ah..." he began. "I gouged it out."

"You did what?!" Masami yelled, as she grabbed him by his arm. "Why the hell would you do that?!"

He let out a deep sigh. "I thought it would make me less desirable, but I guess I was wrong. I should have done both eyes. Or taken my own life, it's not like I want to live anyway."

"Are you out of your mind?!" Masami shouted as she angrily grabbed him by his shoulders so that he was forced to look her in the eyes. "Didn't you want to be able to see the blue sky, Kou? Wasn't that _your_ dream?"

Kou's lips slightly parted, as if he wanted to say something. But no words came out of his mouth, only Masami's angry breathing filled the silence.

Masami inhaled deeply before continuing. "You want to see the sky? Then you've got to be _alive_. And giving up is not an option. If we do what Ruki told us to do, then you'll be given the blue sky and freedom." Masami loosened her grip on his shoulders. "I promise, we'll get out of here. Just don't hurt yourself, okay? That would really upset me."

Kou didn't move an inch. He was completely taken aback by Masami's preaching, especially the caring words at the end. No one had ever said something like that to him before, no one had ever cared. He felt odd... He couldn't describe what he was feeling, it was something unusual, yet heartwarming. Yes, heartwarming. That's literally what he felt for the first time in his life. And those last words kept echoing in his head. _'That would really upset me.'_ She would be upset if he died. Meaning that she would care if he wasn't there anymore.

_She cared_.

"I – I don't want to upset you." Kou said slowly, as he looked in those piercing, electric green eyes.

"Good! Because you don't want to deal with my wrath, mate!" Masami shouted, roughly shaking him by his skinny shoulders.

She really is something, thought Kou, not able to hide the tiny smile on his face.

* * *

"Here's your room," said Kou, as they entered the bright space. There was a bunk bed just beside the window and a small table and a closet in the left corner of the room. It wasn't anything fancy, but it looked nice nonetheless. The room was clean and without doubt more comfortable than her old sleeping quarter.

"Looks nice," said Masami. She walked towards the bottom bed and dropped herself on the white sheets.

"Yeah... One of the caretakers will bring in another girl," said Kou.

"Oh, okay. What's she like?"

"I don't know, she's new. I heard she was wandering around town and they brought her in this morning."

"Oh."

"I'll check on you later, okay? You can just stay in your room for now, I'll tell the others about your transfer later," spoke Kou, as he made his way to the door.

"Okay, see you later!" beamed Masami before burying her head in the pillow.

* * *

"Oh, are you still sleeping? What a bummer, I wanted the bottom bed..."

Masami slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry and her hair probably a complete mess. While rubbing her eyes, she slowly sat up, before trying to identify the stranger in front of her.

"Ah, you're awake! Fantastic! They brought our lunch here and it's getting cold, you know? But I didn't want to wake you. You looked really worn out. No offense," said the stranger with a smooth, but childish voice. It was a very pleasant voice, calming and energetic at the same time.

Masami yawned and glanced at the person in front of her. The girl was smaller than her, though she didn't look younger. Her skin was pale and covered with thousands and thousands of small freckles. Her large eyes were a light shade of green, with a beauty mark under her left eye. Freckles covered her nose and cheeks and her long, purple hair was draped over her right shoulder. Her smile was very calming, yet really intimidating. So were her eyes, not in the slightest way did they look innocent or friendly.

Masami completely understood why this girl was here. She would be a first class moneymaker.

"Come on... Did you lose your tongue? I don't want to stand here for a year waiting for an answer, jeez," the girl said impatiently, before reaching for Masami's wrist and gently pulling her up.

"Ah, sorry," said Masami, a bit taken aback by the sudden physical contact. She might look fragile girl, but her attitude definitely didn't fit that image. And Masami couldn't say she didn't like it.

And damn her hands were cold. It was like touching freshly fallen snow.

They both sat down at the table. There were two plates in front of them and two cups with warm tea. The meal consisted of roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and small pieces of carrot. It smelled delicious and Masami began gluttonously eating.

_Hey? What do you want? I haven't had a meal like this since... Well. Now that I think about it... I never had such an amazing meal in my entire life! _

Once done, she saw the girl slowly eating, not even half her plate was finished. Masami noticed that she hadn't touched the carrots yet.

"You want them?" asked the girl.

"Wah, eh... I didn't mean to stare!"

"Oh, it's okay. I don't like them anyway. You can have them." The girl shoved the carrots on Masami's plate with her fork. "There you go."

"Ah – Oh. Well thanks." Masami didn't even got the chance to protest against it. It was strange that someone would share their food. It wasn't something Masami had ever done. Okay, no. She had done it once. Those sugar cubes. But before that? Never. Oh, well. It was not like she didn't want the carrots. So without further due, Masami continued to eat.

"I don't think I already introduced myself. I'm Ayano. But my last name is a mystery and a secret," the girl suddenly said once they were done with eating. She had her hands behind her head and a carefree aura surrounding her.

"I'm Masami. No last name."

"No last name, huh? Well, I personally don't care about last names anyway, so I won't ask you why. Anyway, have you been here for a long time? I don't know anything about this place and I would love it if you could tell me more about it."

_Crap. How should I put it... 'This is basically hell.' No, no, that didn't sound so well, even though it was the truth. 'This place is okay... you have a roof above your head...' No, that was a lie and a massive understatement. _

"Oh, well... I've been born here. And this is not a good place to be. You were unlucky enough to be brought here." said Masami with a mouth full of carrots and potatoes. This was probably the best answer she could give. She didn't want to crush the newcomers hopes and dreams yet.

"Yes, I was just walking around and suddenly a _man_ approached me and he just knocked me out! I can't believe it! And before I knew, I woke up at this prisonlike place!" Ayano dramatically waved around with her arms as she spoke. She looked more comical than hysterical. Masami couldn't help but laugh, making the food sputter out of her mouth.

A piece of food landed on the most graceful way on the purple-haired girls cheek. Masami's hands shot in front of her face out of shock and embarrassment, but the Ayano didn't even bother to wipe her cheek off. She just burst out in laughter – the contagious kind – for no reason at all, and Masami soon followed. It wasn't even that funny. It was just, her laugh... A laugh that made you crack smile, a laugh that sounded more hilarious than any joke there was, one that was beyond infectious.

"I'm – haha, sorry! I just –" tried Masami after regaining a bit of her breath.

"Oh, come on! It's okay. I don't mind." Ayano replied. She gave her a soft smile – a less intimidating one at that – then swiftly went over her cheek with the palm of her hand.

The two of them then talked for a while, Masami didn't even remember for how long. An hour at least. Masami told her everything about the orphanage, the good _and _the bad. Ayano occasionally made some funny or sarcastic comments, making them both burst into laughter. Masami also told her about her _friends_, even Azusa, who Masami still didn't know very well.

Later the day, one of the other kids from the entertainment group came and picked them up. Masami felt a bit disappointed that Kou wasn't the one picking them up, but hey, you can't have your cake and eat it too.

Some aristocrats came picking kids, apparently. This scared Masami to death. She felt horrible: the nausea from earlier came back, her hands were sweating like crazy and she nervously started to walk behind Ayano – who didn't seem to worry about anything at all.

"Oh, so these are the new arrivals."

"Sweetheart, they look wonderful. Those green eyes and their pure skin." The women went over Masami's cheek with a gloved hand.

_Stay calm. Don't start crying. Don't be afraid. Stay calm. Stay Calm._

"I agree, darling. It would be highly enjoyable to ruin those innocent little faces..."

"Oh, aren't they just little gems? Our new pearls, for sure. But it being their first time, does raise the price... But we can discuss that later in my office with a cup of tea, of course."

"Yes, that would be no problem. We take our hobbies very serious, so the price will not matter."

"Oh sweetheart, I love how that one looks all scared like all the others, while this one doesn't seem to be scared at all."

"Indeed, my love."

"How I would love to cut up the smug smile of that thing..."

"We can arrange an appointment right now, darling."

* * *

Masami was standing in the hallway, a few meters away from her room. She was currently waiting for Kou, who had told her to wait for him, without any other words of explanation.

Ten more minutes passed when he finally arrived along with a certain other person.

Ruki.

"Okay, explain why I had to wait here," said Masami. "And why is Ruki here?"

"I went to check when your appointment would take place," said Kou as he tried to regain his breath.

"Kou! Isn't that a bit dangerous?! You could have been caught, dammit!"

"Two days," said Kou, anger filling his voice.

Silence.

_Two days and the plan was next week. Two days before getting tortured and possibly raped. Only two days._

"Ah."

"We are willing to adjust the plans. It's the best option right now," said Ruki.

"No, I don't think that –"

"Stop arguing about this!"

"Don't tell me what to do, Kou! And no, I don't want –"

"We have to leave right now, but come meet us tomorrow morning. Azusa will pick you up."

"Wait, no!" Masami yelled, but it was hopeless, they left as fast as they had arrived.

* * *

"Oh, what took you so long? And what's with the long face?" said Ayano who was on the top bed, hanging upside down.

"Don't do that, it's dangerous."

"Ignoring my question, huh? Did those aristocrats upset you with their fancy talking? Fufu..." said Ayano casually, her lips curled up in a smirk.

There it was. That attitude of hers. That overly confident and smug smile. Masami wanted to rip her apart at the moment, she didn't feel like talking and this girl was pushing her to her limit. How she hoped to be alone and cry for a while, but that wasn't going to happen in the present of someone else.

"Aren't you a bit concerned? I already told you what they do to the children in this place, yet you keep joking and playing around as if you want to stay here," said Masami angrily. Hiding her emotions wasn't as easy as it used to be.

"I'm not concerned at all."

"Why?"

"No reason in particular."

"That doesn't really answer my question, though."

"I know."

"Whatever, forget it."

And so the conversation ended. Masami lay down on the bottom bed, angrier than she was before. She just wanted to cry about how pathetic she was, cry and drown in her tears of self pity.

And so she did. Small tears flowed over her cheek and the bridge of her nose and she muted the sounds of her sobs with the blanket. Everything just didn't work out. She didn't want the plan to be moved just because of her. There would be less time to plan things out and she would blame herself if anyone would get hurt. It would be her fault.

On the other hand, she didn't want to go through what Kou had to go through. She didn't want it. She was just weak. Weak and nothing else. Nothing more. Thinking she could handle any more abuse was out of the question. She couldn't handle it. And the fact that she was weak made her cry, made her angry.

"Hey... Masami, right? I'm really bad at remembering names."

Masami turned her back to the voice and pulled the blanket over her head. "Leave me."

"I don't think so. Do you know how long I've been thinking about this? I'm not good at these kind of things."

"What the hell are you talking about?" sighed Masami, too worn out to raise her voice.

"I...Came down, after thinking for a while to – oh, god this is ridiculous. Em... Well. To ap – Ugh no, ugh. Apolo –gize."

"What?"

"Come ON, don't make me repeat myself. Do you have any idea how hard this is for me? I –"

"But what did you say?"

"I am S-O-R-R-Y."

"Oh." Masami still had her face to the wall. It sounded like she meant it. "Okay then."

"Okay? Okay? That's all I get after humiliating myself like that?" Ayano jumped on her bed and wrapped her arms around Masami.

"What the –" began Masami before Ayano started tickling her like a madman. "No – hahaha, stop! I can't –" Masami's poor attempt to push the girl of her did not work at all. Ayano giggled as she tickled Masami in her sides. She stopped after a while and they both lay next to each other, laughing it out.

"See, you look so much better when you smile," said Ayano. "Again, sorry for making you cry."

"Hmmm..." mumbled Masami back, her eyes set on the bottom of the top bed. "It wasn't your fault."

"Okay." Ayano turned to Masami and gave her a dead serious look. One that was a bit scary. No, really scary. "Don't ever tell anyone I apologized, okay?" She gave Masami a glare – Masami was sure that Ayano could kill a man with that glare, and then started giggling like she had done before.

"Just kidding!" Ayano threw her arm over Masami's stomach while moving a bit closer to her. It gave Masami chills, but she didn't protest against it.

"Warm..." mumbled Ayano quietly.

They didn't talk nor sleep, even though both the girls had closed their eyes.

A pleasant silence filled the room completely, for a while at least.

"You're the most interesting person I've ever met." said Ayano thoughtfully, her arm still around Masami.

"Oh? I am? Never thought I could be interesting... I'm just a plain, good-for-nothing orphan. I've never seen anything and never been anywhere," said Masami casually. "I'm not interesting at all."

"You shouldn't label yourself with all those things. Besides you're pretty fun and what?! I can't believe it... You've never seen the outside world?" Ayano shot up and waved with her arms in front of Masami's face.

"Eh... No. I was born here, remember?" laughed Masami.

"What a disaster! There are so many things you're missing out on, so many things you haven't seen or done! Like petting circus animals, yelling your name from the top of a mountain, looking at the stars while climbing a tree, dancing in the woods during a full moon and and and –"

"I know! But just like you said before, this is a prison. You can't just get out of here, dummie."

"Yes you can. You can escape everything. And I know what I'm talking about, I do it all the time." Ayano jumped of the bed and twirled around for a few seconds before placing herself next to Masami again.

"I'm always on the run. Being locked up forever is awful and if you want to be free and explore the world then you should start taking action and change your situation yourself. Sitting by and waiting until someone's going to save you won't do. No one's going to save you. No one will care. The only one who could get you out of this situation, is you and you alone."

"I know, I know -"

"Well, then stop sitting around!"

"I am going to leave this place, okay?!"

"That's the spirit! And whatever it takes, I'll help you out."

_Wh-what? Ah, oh shit. No, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone about the plan... Damn... Eh..._

"We'll leave tonight!" said Ayano as she jumped up and placed both her hands on her hips, looking like an army officer.

"WHAT?"

"You heard me! You told me about our new 'work' here, didn't you? I'm not thrilled to get beaten by damn aristocrats. If you want to escape, then now is your time."

"But, we planned it next week... My friends. I cannot leave them."

"They can come with us! All of them. I don't care who they are, but if you like them, then so do I." Ayano came a bit closer and placed her hands on Masami's shoulders.

"I want you to see the world, I want you to be able to see what's out there. You remind me of the old me. The one that was locked up. Masami, I'm giving you the opportunity to leave your cage. To fly away and explore the world. There's so much to discover, so many things to see. I'll show you everything. I'll take you with me on my adventure. Our adventure."

Masami was completely taken aback. Usually, she would be able to reply to everything, but now? This girl, someone she barely knew, someone she had just met, wanted to take her on an adventure.

_She wants to show me the world. Why would she want to do that? Did she want something from me? She barely knows me. _

_Can I trust her?_

"Why me?"

"The fire in your eyes, the curiosity I saw when I told you about the outside world. It made me so happy." said Ayano, who then mumbled something that Masami couldn't understand.

"What?"

"Well... Oh, this is embarrassing to say out loud..." said Ayano. She gazed out of the window now, looking with eyes that were skimming through the past. "I never had any friends that I didn't lose... I don't want to lose my first and only sister."

It took Masami a minute before she realizing what Ayano had just said.

_Sister. That's what she said, right? No, no, I'm sure I misheard that. That's definitely not what she said. _

_Right?_

"Sister? Do you see me as your sister?" asked Masami loudly, too shocked to hide the fact that she was shocked.

"Of course, Masami. I know it sounds weird, but I never had one and this is really new to me too. But believe me or not, I do care about you. We are both just children in a stupid and horrible world, and my heart breaks when I heard that you haven't seen the beautiful things in life. I, as your big sister, will take the responsibility and show you everything. Or at least give you a chance."

Masami's mouth fell open. She now completely lost the ability to talk and went over what Ayano just said in her head for countless of times.

Ayano now had a real smile on her face, one that actually looked kind and good-hearted.

"I'll help you out and offer you this opportunity. It's up to you whether you'll take it or not."

* * *

**WRITERS TALK**

• So that was it for the prologue! Next chapter will be set in the future and YES flashbacks of what happened in the past will be included hehe.

By the WAY I might change the title of this fic, since this one is a bit cheesy lol. But I'll think about it... sigh.

• THEN VERY IMPORTANT:

Back to school. Yep. You heard it. I'm in my last year of high school and besides writing, I still have a blog to maintain and homework to make, so I'll have to concentrate and try to do my best.

**OTHER**

• What do you think of Ayano? A bit of a mysterious character, but idk if you already figured it out HAHA

• Sorry that I didn't show a lot of Azusa in the prologue, but it just seemed a bit unrealistic to me that Masami would be bff's with every one of the Mukami's from the start. :')

**REVIEW PLEASE HELP ME OUT HERE**

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**FOLLOW**

xoxo gossip girl


	4. Chapter 1: Hats and Dreams

Hey, guys, I'm back! I changed a few things as you can see (the title and the summary) and I want to explain a few things before getting to the actual chapter, hehe.

So I was thinking a lot about a few things and encountered a few problems. My original plan was to let Masami live with the Mukamis (she also being a Mukami). BUT her living with them for such a long time would have had a huge influence on their behavior. I felt like they would end up to be too OOC, just because she's with them (get it? I can't really explain it). That's why I changed the summary and my plot (kinda). Masami will still meet the Mukamis (really really soon, btw), but they haven't seen each other since the day of their escape (spoiler?). I did this, so that the sadistic side of the personalities would still be there and that they're more like what they are in the game (aka the lovable sadistic bastards we all fell in love with).

And the title...I just really disliked my old one (TOO CHEESY) and after thinking for 1000000000 days I came up with a new one (still not satisfied, but I'll just keep this one). Inspired by a lyric from a My Chemical Romance song!

Also, thank you for the reviews! I really appreciate it and just to make something clear (to avoid any confusion):

- I know the overall story line and I have completed a few of the routes and read most routes through. - basically, this potato knows what she's writing about, so no worries about that (though I don't know a lot about those two new guys... glasses and an eyepatch...why)

- I'll try to stay canon, but I'll change things for my own plot, so I won't be following the original plot (sorry, I guess?). OF COURSE I won't be changing any personalities, I'll try to keep them in character (which is hard bc there are so many characters ;_;)

- I did the sugar cubes thing on purpose! For later...

I think that was it? At any rate, here's the first chapter that's set in the present!

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

→ Hats and Dreams

* * *

Tired.

My muscles ache, I'm out of breath, I can't go on.

I'm too weak, too worn out. I can't go on.

"_Keep running."_

Do as you were told.

Do _not_ disappoint them. Survive.

Keep running.

Keep running.

Keep running.

* * *

A cool spring breeze made its way through the window of a small room. It was typical September evening; the sun peeking over the horizon, making that the deep orange tones in the sky would only fade slowly and freshly fallen leaves covering the streets.

For a creature of the night, this time of the year was the time to sleep a bit longer than usual. But not for those who had to attend school.

It was around nine in the evening. Masami slowly dragged herself out of bed, half an hour after her alarm had forcefully woken her up. She sluggishly walked past the mirror, catching only a glimpse of what she looked like.

A walking corpse would be a fitting description, thought Masami. She looked like her hair was ran over by a tornado and those dark, purple bags under her eyes didn't make her look any better.

Lack of sleep. Again.

"This is going to be such a pleasant day," said Masami to herself while walking towards her suitcase besides the bed. As she was just about to take out her uniform, she heard a loud knock on the door of her hotel room. There was a short silence after the knock, but that silence was soon followed by an infinite amount of tumultuous knocks. Lazily Masami walked towards the door, fully aware of who this impatient person was. She had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes as usual.

"Why so early..." mumbled Masami before opening the door.

"Well, that took you a long time," A purple-haired girl barged in, already dressed and ready to go. The girl, a head shorter than Masami, jumped towards her and poked her nose. "Didn't you hear me? Are you still sleeping, perhaps?"

"No, I'm awake. You're just really, really noisy," barked Masami back, a bit harsher than she actually intended.

"Ah, I see. Didn't sleep well, huh?"

"No, I'm fine."

"But you look like shit." The girl gave her that typical nonchalant laugh, obviously trying to get on Masami's nerves.

"Thank you. I'll remember to bring my trashcan along next time," Masami said in an overly sarcastic voice and a dead expression. Was this how her morning had to start? Masami was so exhausted, she could possibly sell her soul for a good night of rest. Even a few hours would suffice.

"Calm down, I'm just teasing. Besides, thank you for coming with me. I really appreciate it, Masami-chan." The sentence had started with that typical frivolous voice, but the 'thank you' had a rare sincerity to it, something Masami never heard from this girl. Masami's annoyance slightly dropped.

"Don't worry, it's the least I could do for you." Masami rubbed her chin as she walked back to her suitcase and picked up a neatly folded uniform along with a towel.

"Oh, yeah! When I asked you if you wanted to come along, I thought I had to bribe you into it, but thank god I didn't have to," said the girl in her typical mocking voice. "Bribing just doesn't work on you and your stubborn-ass personality."

Masami responded with a weak smile. The only reason why she agreed to go in the first place, was just to get _her_ off her back and to do something back for her. _She_ had done so much for her, this was the least she could do to repay her.

The girl, who had dropped herself on Masami's bed, pointed at the uniform in Masami's hands. "Cute isn't it? A bit _too_ cute to my taste, though..."

"It's okay, I guess..." said Masami, inspecting the uniform in her hands before glancing at the purple-head. "Hmmm, you're not wearing the bows."

"Of course not. Why would I, Masami-chan? It's such a bother," laughed the girl back as she fixed the collar of her shirt. Her shirt was open, showing off _some_ cleavage, it barely being on the edge of 'school appropriate'. Furthermore, the shirt was only partly tucked in her skirt and her jacket tied around her waist.

Fashion these days... It was something Masami had to catch up on.

Or not.

Masami smiled as she looked at the girl's look. "Guess that it wouldn't be you if you wore those innocent little bows... since you're everything but cute and innocent."

"Awh Masami, that hurt. That hurt right here." The girl pouted and dramatically placed her hand on her heart.

Masami stuck out her tongue and walked towards the bathroom, since she hadn't showered yet and she really wanted to freshen up. No, she really _needed_ to freshen up. Didn't you have to make a good impression on your first day? Not that she cared, but she did pity those who had to see her in this condition.

"Well, you just go take a shower and I'll wait for you in the lobby, okay?" said the girl after getting up. She stretched her arms and yawned loudly, before walking towards Masami. And then, out of nowhere, the girl punched Masami on the shoulder with her fist. The pain shot through Masami's shoulder in a fraction of a second.

_Strength like that should be illegal, dammit!_

"What was that for?!" yelled Masami, jerking back and placing a hand on the attacked shoulder.

"For not coming to me when you have nightmares all night long. You can't keep quiet about things like that, and certainly not to me. You should trust me."

"Nightmares? I don't have nightmares. You should stop worrying about me, really."

"Liar, liar pants on fire... You know, you always want to shoulder the burden on your own. It will crush you, sooner or later. Just tell me when something is bothering you, alright? I always tell you everything, so it's only natural for me to ask you to open up to me."

_These damn lectures again. And burden... Pffft, what did that even mean?_

Masami let out a deep sigh. Of course, she didn't agree with anything _she_ said and didn't feel like she had done anything wrong in the first place. But being too tired to go into a never ending discussion, she decided to agree with whatever _she_ said. "Alright, I'll give it my best shot."

Revenge for the punch would come later.

"That's my little sister! Now get ready, weren't you the one who _really_ wanted to go to school?"

"Oh right, damn," groaned Masami. She ran towards the bathroom with her clothes and closed the door behind her, leaving the purple head alone in the hotel room.

"See you downstairs, Masami-chan~" sang the girl.

"See you, _Ayano_."

* * *

Masami got out of the taxi that had brought them to school. It hadn't been a long ride, since the school was pretty close to the city, where the hotel was located. The first thing Masami noticed were the chatting groups of kids in front of the school. They seemed to talk about their weekend and were laughing as they walked towards the school.

It looks like they're having fun. Must be nice. Masami felt a bit curious now.

Only a little bit, though.

"Nice building," said Ayano when she got out of the car and placed her arm around Masami's shoulder. The sight was ridiculous: a shorter girl putting an arm around a tall one. But is was something Masami got used to, this was just Ayano's weird way of showing affection.

Masami looked up at the building. Her jaw dropped slightly. "Is this supposed to be a school?" Masami said skeptically. This school did not look like one of those school she had seen on TV. "It looks like a fucking castle."

"Darling, mind your language," said Ayano while shaking her head in a disapproving way and a small grin on her face. "This is a school for wealthy children, so naturally, it's a bit bigger than other schools, little girl."

Masami continued to gape at the enormous building. It looked old and had a historic feel to it. She didn't like that feeling at all. The building gave her bad vibes, she felt them right in her gut.

"Let's go!~" sang Ayano, getting Masami out of her trail of thoughts.

"Getting education...From actual teachers. Should be...Fun," mumbled Masami, trying not to look at the colossal building.

"Hey, I also thaught you many things!" sounded the offended voice of Ayano.

"Yes, but teachers actually know what they're talking about," said Masami who was trying not to smirk at her kick-ass comeback.

* * *

Only with Ayano, Masami would let her guard down and open up. Masami was very aware of the fact that she wasn't a joy to be around and enjoyed the fact that she lived a life in the shadow of her extravagant friend.

_That was how it__'s __supposed to be._

Masami usually kept herself a bit more on the background whenever there where strangers around, or just around people in general. Ayano was more confident and tactful when it came to talking to others. Some might say that Ayano's a manipulator at heart, but Masami didn't think of her that way. Ayano was just good with words and just appeared to be a bit more charismatic to others. That's how people fell in love with Ayano. Because, honestly, who didn't? She was confident, smart, strong and on top of that: attractive. She had all the keys to success and was _very_ aware of that. Ayano, oblivious? Biggest joke of the year, if you had to ask Masami.

Furthermore, Ayano made good use of her ability to understand how others think, understand how others feel and what others desire. She knew how a human mind works and knew all the mysteries it contains. She knew how to win their hearts, how to charm her way into their minds.

Masami sometimes felt enormous amounts of envy towards Ayano. Ayano was everything Masami once dreamed to be. Masami had always looked up to Ayano, and still did. And yet, she couldn't be anything like her. She wasn't confident, she wasn't smart or charismatic. She wasn't able to live life at its fullest as Ayano did.

But that didn't matter. Things were fine the way they were. Masami didn't feel like she deserved the kind of attention that Ayano always got. Masami didn't desire that at all, she truly wanted her friend – no her sister, to get as much attention and appreciation, since she actually deserved it.

The only thing Masami wanted to be, was to be stronger. To be able to control herself completely, to not fall into depravity... Just like back in those days.

_She had been weak._

_Scared._

_She had been a coward, a complete and utter idiot._

_But she had changed. She had forced herself to change._

_It had been necessary._

_So that the past would not repeat itself._

* * *

"Ah, yes. We were supposed to go to school here."

"Hmm?"

"We're registered, I'm sure of it. Oh, our deepest apologies for the two weeks of absence. Our flight had been delayed and we had some trouble with getting new tickets and such," said Ayano to a vile looking woman at the reception of the school. Masami stood beside her, trying to listen to the boring conversation. You could tell by Masami's expression that she wasn't trying that hard to keep up with their talk.

"Let me take a look," said the woman, looking at them with a distrusting face. She disappeared behind a large computer screen.

"Little miss sunshine, if you ask me," whispered Ayano to Masami, who tried her best to hide her snickering.

"I see. You girls must be Sato Ayano and Sato Masami." The woman, who had turned back to them, took out some papers from a file. "Here are your schedules and the school rules. We expect nothing more than impeccable behavior, understood?"

"Thank you very much, and yes we will not cause any trouble." Ayano took the papers and handed Masami her schedule.

Masami quickly compared her schedule to Ayano's. "Huh? Were not in the same class?"

"Is there a problem?"

"Eh... Yes, actually there is a problem. I want to know why we're not in the same class."

"That's just how it is, there is no particular reason for that. It cannot be changed," bit the woman back.

"We understand. Thank you for your time and again, sorry for the trouble," said Ayano quickly, with a sugar sweet smile.

The woman closed her eyes slightly and waved with her hand. "You can go to your classes now, you don't want to be late."

"Okay!~" Ayano grabbed Masami by her arm and was about to skip away.

"Wait a second."

"Oh?" Ayano turned around.

"We have a dress code, so we expect young ladies like yourself to dress appropriately. You got that, missy?"

"Okay, miss! I'll try to pay attention to the dress code."

_She won't._

Masami and Ayano then left.

"What a hag."

"Tell me about it." Masami smiled and took a closer look to her schedule. Her smile dropped like a brick. She started with math. Great. Couldn't be better. She didn't know any math, let alone any other exact sciences, or any sciences at all.

"Oh, come on! Brighten up. You look like one of those zombies from that movie we saw a few weeks ago. Really ugly. Not to mention cranky and dead as hell." Ayano gave Masami a light push.

"Yeah, yeah, you made your point, but –"

"But what?"

"But being in a room without my trusty, annoying sister... How will I _ever _survive that?"

"So cute!" Ayano pinched Masami's cheek and gave her a cocky smile. "You're actually going to miss me!"

"Don't count on it, missy," said Masami and grinned as she used the word that the vile woman from the reception had used to address Ayano.

"Oh, stop it you."

"Now, we should probably go, before some other witch sees what you're wearing. They've got their eyes on you and your _great_ sense of fashion. Beware, Ayano."

"It's only 10 in the evening, Masami-chan! Take a break!" said Ayano rather dramatically just when a group of girls passed them.

"We really have to go now, everyone is already heading to their classes," replied Masami, completely ignoring Ayano's little drama act.

"Fine, fine. See you during lunch okay? Just text me where you are."

Masami nodded and perused to go to her class. When already at the end of the hall she heard a shrill voice.

_Oh god._

"Masami-chan!"

"What?"

"Don't skip any classes okay? Be a good girl!~"

"You better behave, Ayano!" yelled Masami back before leaving the hallway.

_What a way to start your day._

* * *

"Okay, class. We have a new student here. Please introduce yourself."

_Okay, now come up with one hell of an amazing introduction._

"Hello, I'm Sato Masami. Nice to meet you. Please take good care of me."

_Nailed it._

The teacher, a 40-year-old bald male, nodded. "There's a free seat somewhere in the back," said the teacher. "You can go and take your seat."

Masami nodded and walked towards her seat in the back. She tried not to look stressed or nervous, but that was harder than she thought it would be. Especially when 24 students stared at her while doing so.

_Stay cool._

_Chill._

Masami took her seat and sighed mentally. She was not seated by the window, but somewhere in the middle of the classroom, in the back and in between two girls. Worst place to sit, if you had to ask her. She wanted to sit next to the damn window and these girls looked like a couple of spoiled brats. Okay, no she took that back. One of the girls gave her a tiny, yet very friendly smile.

_This girl. I approve of her._

But the worst thing was the guy in front of her. He was wearing a HAT in class (was that even allowed? Another one who didn't follow the damn dress code!). And it wasn't just a hat, no, it was some weird-ass fedora. He totally blocked her sight with that damn hat! She couldn't see half the blackboard. But that wasn't the worst thing about him. The worst thing was the fact that he was currently staring at Masami with strangely familiar eyes and an even more familiar suave smile.

Masami felt like punching him in the face. Her intuition told her to do so.

But, as the good girl Masami was, she decided to ignore him and to wait until he turned around again. Which took a VERY long time. It was like he was inspecting her, his eyes sliding over her as if she was some piece of meat. Great. And then he had the audacity to give her a creepy giggle, before _finally_ turning around.

Masami felt enormous amounts of regret. She could have been in the hotel, watching TV or exploring the city, but no, she just _had_ to agree to accompany her bratty sister to school. The pain and regret was too real.

Too real.

So the rest of the lesson went pretty normal. Masami couldn't follow at all, but still took some notes, as the fantastic student she was. Well, the only reason she did that was to prevent herself from driving a crayon through Fedora's skull. He was leaning behind, with both his elbows resting on Masami's desk. Her annoyance rose with the speed of light. This guy was able to piss her of in such a subtle way without even saying a word. Bravo.

This guy was obviously a professional.

After class the glorious sound of the school bell went off. Everyone stood up, ready for a short break. Masami was ready to spurt her way out of this doomed classroom, but no.

He was blocking her way.

"Ah, a cute vampire girl? What an absolute joy, fufu," said Fedora with a chuckle. A CHUCKLE. Who the hell chuckled these days?!

Masami's face was blank, she was literally using all her power to not scrunch her face up. He knew she was a vampire? How?

Ah, and then it hit her. He was a vampire too. Masami mentally slapped herself on the forehead. How could she not notice something like that? She was a freaking vampire! How could she look over the fact that another vampire sat with her in the same room. Masami blamed her restless night.

"...Okay," said Masami. Keeping quiet had only made him come closer, so saying something was the best option. "I have no idea what you're talking about. By the way, you got something on your hat."

"A-re~?"

And with that Masami took her chance to escape by changing her direction and speeding her way towards the door. This was probably on of her most childish actions ever.

But it worked, she had successfully left the classroom.

And then she saw Fedora standing in front of her.

Again.

With that damn smile on his –let's be honest here– handsome face.

Masami groaned. This guy could teleport. Why couldn't she do that? Damn her lack of cool abilities.

"Ah, so trying to play with me? If you want to play, then you should have asked, fufu~" Fedora held the tip of his hat and gave her a seductive wink.

Well, this was... awkward. Was he trying to hit on her? Masami couldn't tell if he was serious or not. He looked like he was teasing her, very much like a certain girl she had to live with.

Oh, that was it.

Masami knew who this person reminded her of. His eyes were just like Ayano's. Actually, his overall attitude and that (damn!) smirk reminded Masami of Ayano.

Weird.

But at this very moment, thinking of a sharp and witty answer to this seductive bastard's 'subtle' way of flirting was her main priority.

But, of course, her phone went off, interrupting her thinking process.

After reaching for the device, Masami felt slightly relieved when seeing the name on the screen and quickly skimmed though the text message.

–

From: best sister in the WORLD (the person in question had picked the name herself, tsk, tsk)

Where are you? I'm waiting for you in the entrance hall ~

–

_Okay need to text back, this is obviously an emergency._

–

To: best sister in the WORLD

Come to me right now

I'm in front of my classroom

there's another vampire

he is wearing a fucking fedora

this is an emergency

sos

–

Good, that should do it. A bit relieved, Masami looked up, her gaze back on the guy and she had _almost_ jerked back. This guy, this fedora-wearing ASS, just stood there, his face literally an inch away from her own. Their noses almost touched.

ALMOST.

_Talking about personal space. He didn't know what that was, didn't he?_

"What the – Don't invade my personal space!" was what Masami really wanted to yell, but being the master in the arts of controlling her own emotions, she just stared at him with a deadpan look on her face. But that didn't take away the fact that she really, really wanted to kick him in the balls. The urge was strong. But she had to control herself. He was annoying her on purpose and most likely expecting some spectacular reaction, like seeing her blush – something that wouldn't happen in a million years.

And just like she thought, he looked somewhat dissatisfied with her reaction.

Good.

But the situation hadn't changed.

Currently, they were staring in each other's eyes. Not the romantic kind, though.

The silence was getting too long. She had to say something. Get herself out of this overly awkward situation.

"I would _love _to stay, but I have to meet with someone right now." Masami took a step to the right, still not breaking the eye-contact. No way she was going to lose this round. "Bye." Masami finally broke the eye-contact and turned around, ready to leave.

"Ah, leaving so soon already? How disappointing, slut-chan."

What. What did he just call her?

He.

Didn't.

Dare.

"What did you just call me, you prick?"

"Fufu, did I break through your shield? Angry, slut-chan?"

Without thinking, Masami grabbed Fedora by his tie.

"_What_ did you call me again?"

This was definitely not going according to plan.

Bye, bye, self control.

Fedora only gave her _that_ giggle. Was he mocking her? He better not do that. For his own sake.

"What a good face... Already inviting me in, don't you?"

That was it.

This was the straw that broke the camels back.

Just when Masami was about to jam her fist into his stomach, she heard the familiar voice of her female companion.

"Masami-chan! It's the first day of school, stop flirting around. How dare you keep me waiting like that, you bastard."

Masami had never been happier to see Ayano. Finally, the purple-head had arrived.

"You were the one who kept me waiting!" Masami let go of Fedora's tie and angrily walked towards Ayano who stood a few meters away.

"Hmmm, who got you so angry? I rarely see you in this shameful condition, darling."

"Doesn't matter, let's go. I need some fresh air."

"Are?~" Ayano moved Masami away from her and set her gaze on Fedora, who stood there, completely perplex. It was as if he was seeing someone completely different, as if he recognized Ayano from somewhere.

Again, Masami was completely confused.

"What? Is there something?" Masami moved in front of Ayano, intentionally blocking the view of the short girl.

"Ah, nothing. Let's go!" sounded Ayano's smooth voice. Quickly, she put her arm around Masami's and then, as usual, Ayano dragged Masami away, leaving the fedora-wearing bastard behind.

"So they're all here..."

"Who?"

"The Sakamakis."

* * *

4051 words / AAAAH THIS WAS FUN TO WRITE

I hope I grasped Laito's personality a bit? Please tell me if I didn't or if I could do better! Anyway, no Mukamis yet (SORRY). They'll come...SOON.

And yes Ayano's still here. The purpose of this chapter? I just really wanted to show you what kind of a relationship Masami and Ayano have and how they both act when they're with each other and how they act with strangers (lady at the reception, Laito for Masami). I think it's better to already make a few things clear in this chapter, just to avoid confusion in later chapters.

The little "angst" piece in the beginning is a snippet of Masami's nightmare.

**OTHER**

• Thoughts on this chapter?

• Very important: is the pacing okay? If I need to go a bit faster, then please tell me. I always tend to take things too slow (oops).

• The girl who gave Masami a friendly smile... Guess who that was (Hint: name ends with ui, starts with a y)

• So I wanted to ask you guys this last time, but I totally forgot about it. Who's your favorite Sakamaki and Mukami? And who's your ultimate favorite?

**REVIEWS, FOLLOWS AND FAVORITES ARE APPRECIATED **

**If you have questions, feel free to ask me anything (or advise, or complaints, or you know anything!)**


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